Montour pulls away for win over New Castle
New Castle (6) vs. Montour (24)
Written: Oct 02, 2010
By JOE SAGER
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
McKEES ROCKS — Montour is slowly marching toward a Parkway Conference championship.
Julian Durden is hoping to make it a runaway decision.
The junior rambled for 271 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries last night to lead Montour to a 24-6 win over New Castle in a Parkway game at Thomas J. Birko Memorial Stadium.
“It was a real big win,” Durden said. “Every time we play in our conference, if we don’t beat the team, then we’re not going to win the conference. So, every game we play is a conference championship game for us.”
The gridiron triumph boosts the Spartans to 3-0 in the Parkway circuit and 5-0 overall. Montour is the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s top-ranked WPIAL Class AAA team and fifth-ranked PIAA squad.
“Every win is crucial. We have four big football games coming up still,” Montour coach Lou Cerro said. “I am sure we will probably see New Castle later in the season. I think they are that good of a football team. Anytime you go 3-0 in the Parkway, that’s a big bonus.”
The hosts started off well as they marched 61 yards on eight plays to open the contest. Devin Wilson capped the drive when he hauled in a two-yard touchdown aerial from Dillon Buechel.
However, the Red Hurricane (1-2, 3-2) defense clamped down on the Spartans for the rest of the first half. Montour clung to its 7-0 edge at halftime. New Castle’s defense was especially brutal to Durden as the ’Canes forced and recovered two of his fumbles. Yet, the offense was unable to convert those opportunities into points.
On the first fumble, New Castle drove to the Montour 13, but came away empty. The ’Canes punted after the second Durden fumble.
“That’s been demoralizing all season. Offensively, we’re not very good,” New Castle coach Frank Bongivengo Jr. said. “Three games in a row we’ve struggled offensively. We’re not making the plays when we need to make them. We have opportunities and we’re down in the red zone and we’re not making the plays we have to make. We’re not doing a very good job on offense at all. The defense held us in there long enough that we should have been able to do something. Right now, we’re just not very good on offense.”
Despite Durden’s first-half butterfingers, the Spartans leaned on their talented back. The move paid off in a big way. Following Lucas Tourney’s 22-yard field goal that boosted the lead to 10-0, Durden unleashed a 57-yard paydirt scamper. Initially, he tried to run right and was bottled up, but he spun out of danger and erupted down the middle of the field for the scoring jaunt.
“The hole was huge. It was like everybody fell down or something. I just took it and ran with it,” Durden said. “When I fumbled, I really didn’t think about it because my team was behind me, picking my head up. They were there for me. So, my confidence stayed up the whole game.”
The ’Canes got a boost with 1:29 left in the third when Justin Fleo hauled in Johnny Matarazzo’s short screen pass and turned it into a 63-yard scoring spree. With the help of some key blocks, Fleo turned inside and reached the end zone. The PAT kick failed, which left the deficit at 17-6.
However, Durden and Montour put the game away in the fourth when he raced 46 yards for a TD and a 24-6 edge with 6:09 to go.
“He is a pretty good back. They are a good football team. They played better than we did,” Bongivengo said. “We just have to keep going at it and get better. We’re not running the ball effectively. When you can’t run the ball, it hurts. When you just rely on the pass, teams pin their ears back and come at you. That’s what Montour did. We couldn’t run the ball with any effectiveness and they came after us in the passing game.”
New Castle returns to action next week when it welcomes Hopewell to Taggart Stadium.
“There are no easy games,” Bongivengo said.
NEW CASTLE MONTOUR
15 First downs 16
97 Yards Rushing 301
17 Yards Lost 23
80 Net Rushing 278
40 Passes Attempted 19
18 Passes Completed 12
0 Passes Intercepted 0
233 Yards Passing 108
330 Total Yards 386
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 2-2
4-39.3 Punts-Average 3-32
4-30 Penalties-Yards 2-30
NEW CASTLE 0 0 6 0 — 6
MONTOUR 7 0 10 7 — 24
Scoring plays
MONTOUR — Devin Wilson, 2-yard pass from Dillon Buechel (Lucas Tourney kick).
MONTOUR — Tourney, 22-yard field goal.
MONTOUR — Julian Durden, 57-yard run (Tourney kick).
NEW CASTLE — Justin Fleo, 63-yard pass from Johnny Matarazzo (kick failed).
MONTOUR — Durden, 46-yard run (Tourney kick).
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